The Red Devils have made an art out of scoring late goals over the years and that ability came to the fore in Glasgow as Wayne Rooney grabbed the winner in the 86th minute.

The win, which confirmed United's place in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League, saw Sir Alex Ferguson's men increase their unbeaten record to 27 matches in all competitions.

And although Carrick admits United would have liked have wrapped up the three points before Steve Naismith's ill-advised lunge on Fabio, the midfielder claims the Premier League giants showed patience was a virtue at Ibrox.

"It was a job well done," said the England international.

"We had a lot of possession, so we tried to be patient and hope it would open up for us.

"We have done it so many times in the past. We always believe we will get a chance.

"Thankfully we managed to get the penalty and that was enough."

Rooney

Carrick and his team-mates will all hope the added spin-off will be a return to form for Rooney, who has appeared so ill at ease since he first suffered his ankle injury in March.

Although his timing still seems a bit awry, there were genuine signs of a return to the form that had established the 25-year-old as one of the best players in the world.

Certainly, when Swiss referee Massimo Busacca blew his whistle to signal Fabio had been fouled, there was no doubting who would take the kick.

"It was typical of Wayne to put himself up there to take the penalty," said Carrick. "It was a great finish to a good night."

Indeed, from a personal perspective, the only thing that would have made it better for Carrick was a goal himself.

But the 29-year-old spurned his second-half chance, meaning he has still not scored since his effort against Portsmouth on 6th February.

And the former Tottenham and West Ham performer admitted: "The goalkeeper made a decent save but it probably wasn't the best finish."